feathers ↣ w. worthington iii

(1) An Unwanted Reuinion

Quote of the chapter: I will remember your small room, the feel of you, the light in the window, your records, your books. (Raw With Love by Charles Bukowski)

Laying low at her parents house–her old house–felt nostalgic to Lilli. Nothing had been touched. It felt strange, having grown into a young woman ready to risk her life for the world only to end up back in her teenage bedroom at her parents' house. 

What would her life had been like had she not ran away? Had she not have inherited the mutant gene? Had she been a normal teenage girl? 

The doorbell tore Lilli from her thoughts. Her parents were out at work and she was home alone, leaving her in charge of answering the door.

Lilli flopped off the couch and walked to the front door, peeking out the window to see who it was. She stopped short when her gaze fell upon Sam and Emily, standing and not looking quite patient. Lilli sighed, and rolling her eyes, she opened up the door.

"What do you two want?" Lilli asked irritably.

"Oh, hello Lilli, nice to see you too, my day's been good, thanks for asking!" Emily sassed back, crossing her arms.

"Ignore her. We've come to make an offer." Sam said, shooting a look at Emily to shut her up. "Can we come in?"

"No, I think it's just fine where we're at. Actually," Lilli paused and feigned a thinking face. "I think it would be even better if I shut this door and you two left. Yeah, that sounds good. See you never again, hopefully."

Lilli smiled and slammed the door, making sure to lock it. Sam and Emily hovered on her porch for a few moments, probably unsure of what to do, but they eventually took off.

Lord, Lilli thought, they really are pushy at Chaos.

Happy to be undisturbed, Lilli sat back down and began watching Cheers absentmindedly on the TV.

Four hours later, while she was eating a snack, the doorbell rang again. Lilli opened it, saw Sam and Emily, said, "No," and shut the door in their faces once again.

A few hours later, the doorbell rang again. Lilli just yelled a "Go away!" and continued doing yoga.

The same thing happened the next day. And the next. And the next. It carried on for a whole week until one day Lilli had had enough. When the doorbell rang, she opened it up to reveal two tired and pissed off looking childhood friends. 

"Fine. I'll come with you. I won't join. I'm just doing this to make you guys stop." Lilli said, giving them an annoyed look. "I better be back before dinner. It's Taco Tuesday."

Sam and Emily looked surprised at first, then relieved. "Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

The trio trekked to the park, Sam and Emily talking Lilli's ear off about Chaos the whole time there. They ended up seated at the same bench as the last time they were at the park together, a week earlier.

There they sat for a while, the sky growing dark, Sam and Emily growing more impatient and desperate, Lilli growing more irritated and annoyed. 

"Why don't you want to join?" Sam asked for the millionth time.

"Because, I am done with that life. I want to be normal." Lilli answered in exasperation for the millionth time.

"But why would you want that? You have this power, this gift, that makes you better than the rest of the world. Why don't you want to use it?" Emily asked.

Lillli opened her mouth to answer but quickly realized she had no answer. Was it because she was afraid of fighting in a big mutant war? Because if so, she could still be a mutant and use her powers, just not use them in a war. Was it because she was scared of her own power? No, Lilli wasn't scared of what she or others could do.